The rest of the weekend went on without a hitch. Saturday we went swimming at one of the lakes, and Sunday I spent most of the day sleeping and telling myself all the reasons why going to look for Elias was a terrible, no good, dangerous idea.

But by Monday morning I was itching to see him. I should’ve anticipated that Sam was going to serve us with some bullshit first thing.

I was making my way through the restaurant, heading for breakfast, when I saw Tsehay and Sam in a heated discussion. There was obviously something wrong because Sam was red in the face and kept swinging his hands as he talked. I braced myself for whatever foolery this was. Knowing Sam and the way he ran his mouth, I anticipated having our whole day turned upside down by whatever he had done.

I got to them just as Elias was coming in from the side door of the restaurant that led to the parking lot. He’d probably been preparing the supplies for the day out, but I had a feeling his meticulous schedule was about to get disrupted.

“What do you mean I can’t go out today?” Sam’s voice boomed throughout the restaurant, making the diners at the other tables turn their heads in our direction.

“Sam, get it together,” I warned through gritted teeth as I literally raised a hand to push him back. “Give Tsehay some room.” He’d been crowding her like the asshole he was, but he moved, looking startled when he realized how close he was to her.

I was about to start asking what the hell was going on, but Elias beat me to it and his tone sounded as strained as mine. “What happened?” He was looking at Tsehay, and I suspected it was because if he paid too much attention to Sam, like me, he’d be tempted to pop him on the mouth.

Tsehay looked angry, an expression that didn’t seem to go with her usual easygoing personality. I could tell she was trying to come up with an explanation, and the fact that Sam’s lips were currently sealed told me he was responsible for whatever had caused the argument.

She sighed and turned to look at me. “Mr. Dawit has requested a different team leader for his woreda.”

“What did you do?” I growled as the oaf in question reddened.

Sam tried to posture, but something in my face must have told him I was not in the mood, and clearly neither were Elias or Tsehay. “I ran into him yesterday and asked him some questions, and I guess he didn’t like my tone.”